Zachary LeemanMay 26th, 2026, 6:09 pm

Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) lashed out at ICE after being hit with pepper spray during a protest outside a Newark facility where detainees are reportedly holding a hunger strike over conditions.

Kim joined CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday’s The Lead following video of him standing between protesters and ICE agents during a tense confrontation this week.

“When you pepper spray a United States senator, you are not working to keep people safe,” New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill (D) said after the Kim incident.

Kim explained to Tapper that he was not directly hit with a pepper bullet, but he was hit with pepper spray during the commotion of the protest. The senator accused ICE of escalating the protest by deciding to “go ahead and plow through the crowd.”

He said:

So I tried my best to get between the ICE agents and the crowd as the ICE convoy decided to just go ahead and plow through the crowd, which was just absolutely so dangerous of an action that they were doing. So I remember the pepper balls starting to get shot towards my feet and past me. I did not get hit directly by a pepper ball, but certainly between the pepper balls and then the pepper spray that was happening, I’d certainly had an irritation and burning sensation in my eyes and my throat.

But more broadly, this was something that was avoidable. We were trying to find a way to be able to move forward that wasn’t gonna escalate in this way. But ICE decided that they just had enough and they were gonna just move ahead. And I just thought that was an incredibly dangerous action for them to do. And that continued problems, that continued threat of violence and escalation continues today. Tomorrow, I mean, it just we’re seeing just a heightened level of danger right now in New Jersey.

Watch above via CNN.

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